Duchy of Saxony
Duchy of Saxony (and the Palatinate of Saxony) | |
|---|---|
| 804–1296 | |
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Left: Arms of Ascanians (from around 1000), who ruled the Duchy of Saxony last Right: Coat of arms of the Palatinate of Saxony (instituted in the southern part of the duchy) | |
| Attributed arms of the Duchy of Saxony The Saxon Steed | |
Saxony around 1000 CE, within the German Kingdom | |
| Status |
|
| Capital | None (ducal) Allstedt (seat of the Palatinate) |
| Official languages | Latin |
| Common languages | Old Saxon Middle Low German |
| Religion | Roman Catholic (official) Germanic paganism |
| Historical era | Middle Ages |
• Conquest of Charlemagne | 804 |
• Welf ascendancy | 1137 |
• Expanded by conquest | 1142 |
• Welfs deposed, Ascanians enfeoffed with severely belittled duchy | 1180 |
| 1260 | |
• Competences divided | 1269, 1272 and 1282 |
| 1296 | |
• Wittenberg Ascanian line extinct; reunification failed | 1422 |
| Today part of | Germany |
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The Duchy of Saxony (Low German: Hartogdom Sassen) was originally the area settled by the Saxons in the late Early Middle Ages, when they were subdued by Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars from 772 CE and incorporated into the Carolingian Empire (Francia) by 804. Upon the 843 Treaty of Verdun, Saxony was one of the five German stem duchies of East Francia; Duke Henry the Fowler was elected German king in 919.
Upon the deposition of the Welf duke Henry the Lion in 1180, the ducal title fell to the House of Ascania, while numerous territories split from Saxony, such as the Principality of Anhalt in 1218 and the Welf Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg in 1235. In 1296, the remaining lands were divided between the Ascanian dukes of Saxe-Lauenburg and Saxe-Wittenberg, the latter obtaining the title of Electors of Saxony by the Golden Bull of 1356.